against the conservative group that threatened to boycott jc penney for hiring her to be their spokesperson. one thing has become abundantly clear over the last two days, mitt romney has lost his mojo, his cam -- the next 24 hours could prove critical for the one-time front-runner. mitt romney speaks before a key conservative gathering tomorrow known as cpac. and it could be his chance to reload and reboot his message. meantime nothing greets success like success. and rick santorum is raking in the cash right now, bringing in more than $1 million. and he's literally feeling the embrace of staunch conservatives. >> folks, president of the united states is selling the economic security of this country down the river right now. people say, well, you know, if you go out and you grow the

economy and you create the opportunity for blue collar criminals to work, i don't care if they vote for me, i care if they have a great quality of life in america. >> let's bring in our panel to talk about the candidates, usa today politics jackie -- this morning, that rick santorum could even gain ground on michigan, that has long been a romney stronghold. so what can he do right now to get the right back in line or at least get it back behind him to pull through his supertuesday? >> spend a lot of money, which is always mitt romney's advantage. you mentioned before that mitt had lost his mo joe. what mitt did in florida was to bombard gingrich with tons and tons and tons of money and that works in this cycle. what they didn't do on tuesday

was use as much firepower in as many negative ads and that means that mitt romney did not do as well. he has to come back, if he wants to do well, he has to come back with the same strategy and go after rick santorum and/or gingrich with the same kind of firepower. >> jackie, the culture wars, certainly they seem to be driving santorum's surge especially when he gets close to talking about -- as charles recommends, if romney fires back, putting a lot of cash out there. >> it depends on where he is. i think he has a chance to challenge gingrich in a lot of the southern states, we have got some of those coming up, and he's got a potential to do well there, but i think charles is absolutely right, he's got to start raising some money in order to get his message out. the grass roots caucus has worked very well for rick

santorum. look what happened in iowa, look what happened in colorado. he's got to keep that me moan tum going in some of the more eastern states. >> don't go anywhere, because we're going to be bringing you back into the conversation in a second. but as i mentioned, republicans are getting under one big tent this morning. cpac started just a little while ago. to weigh in on the party's message going forward. and right now, senator marco rubio is addressing the crowd. take a listen. >> there's a lot of talk about our need as conservatives and republicans to work with the other side. i can guarantee you that coach tom coughlin last week did not tell his giants to go out on the field and to work with those other guys. we don't have shared goals with the democrats, folks. >> we're going to be following cpac right through the day right here on msnbc and the former presidential hopeful of

congressman senator mccain speaking there today. the birth control controversy just keeps getting bigger. mock the defectors, former dnac, connecticut's john larsen, illinois's daniel lapinski and senator joe manchin. banding together with florida marco rubio to sponsor a bill in opposition of the president. >> i thought it was wrong, infringement of the religious rights that we had in the constitution, they went ahead and did it initial. my office and the white house would proactively follow vice president biden. >> luke, with more on the legislation side of things, senators manchin and rubio will introduce today, what does it mean and what kind of message is

this supposed to send back to the white house and the administration? >> this bill with rubio and m manchin will produce is imposing that federal government mandating that religious organizations would have to pay for contraception. and this is similar to what john boehner the speaker of the house from ohio said yesterday said that the legislative body will get involved and try to stop what they see as a mandate getting into the white house with the white house overstepping their bounds. in terms of birth control and contraceptives, it's long been a political hot button issue, but with long conversations that i have had with democrats on the hill, they were sort of perplexed that the obama administration would bring this out in an election year. and you see some of the democrats -- expect probably to see legislation like this move forward in the house, it faces

an uphill battle in the senate because harry reid would be reluck tantd to give it a vote on the senate floor, you're going to see over the next few weeks, pervade all throughout washington and into the country. >> it's a political hot potato for sure. >> i just want to give a programming note, everyone can check out luke today on andrea mitchell reports. we want bring back into our discussion jackie and joe. it basically demonstrates the president is stuck between this rock and a hard place. so if he chooses to compromise on this issue, is it going to hurt his relationship with the female voting bloc in this country or do you think it's going to take the pressure off and allow the heat to die down over what is such a controversial issue? >> it could hurt him, but i think, you know, if women support this issue, they're not -- i don't think they're going to be voting for the

republican candidates because they don't -- if it's something they support, a lot of republicans don't support what's going on here. they're saying it's not about contracepti contraception, it's about religious tolerance. i also think it's a long time before election day. so i don't know if this is going to affect him in a general election, because it is so far away at this point. >> so we talk about a lot of time, but the survey by the -- the majority of catholics support insurance coverage for contraceptives. if the president doesn't come to a compromise, how will this play out. >> we don't know yet, right now everybody's running around like mice in a dark room. we don't know what the repercussions are, we don't know how people respond to the president's decision on this particular issue, we don't know if this is a make or break issue

at the polls, it does add to a narrative that conservatives are trying to build that government is overreaching, that just kind of is another brick on that building. however, is this a single issue on which catholics will vote? i doubt that very seriously. >> when we talk about conservatives, when do women get together to say enough is enough, not as a collective as being liberal progressive, conservative or moderate, when do women get together as a collective say get out of our medicine cabinet, you don't belong there. >> there's lots of different women, with lots of different views so i don't know that this is a voting bloc that will ever materialize because we do have different views on different issues. >> but i do think that women get together every time they go to the polls because they consistently vote more democratic than men do and president obama carried women in the last election and i think

that will happen again. and i think that that is largely due to the democratic its in progressive views on women's issues. >> great to have you part of the panel discussion this morning. many thanks to you, i just want to point out that today president obama will exempt ten states from the strict and the sweeping environments of the no child left behind law. those are going to -- improve how states -- excuse me, how students are evaluated. 28 other states have expressed interest in applying for these waivers. now the president will announce -- we'll have live coverage right here on msnbc. class is back in session today at a los angeles elementary school after two teachers were jailed accused of performing lewd acts on students. the school was closed for two days and had its entire staff gutted. mike t replacement of the entire

staff, is that doing anything to calm the outrage over this? and is it giving parents any needed safety reassurances about putting their children back in that institution? >> reporter: certainly not for some of the parents, the ones who are staying out and keeping their children out of school today. but there are 1,500 students in this school, and most of them have gone into the building at the opening bell this morning. it is back to school but under extraordinary circumstances. the charges against those two suspects, those two teachers who are alleged to have performed lewd acts against dozens of their students, particularly horrific at this point, a lot of the parents here, they understand the clean swreeep aspect of it, but they want to wait and see. i spoke to a parent, stephany perez a moment ago. >> we want our teachers back,

maybe changing my mind is that the superintendent will come and take to all the students why we made that decision to explain to us why. >> reporter: they're waiting for those explanations. investigators say yesterday they uncovered another 200 photographs of the primary suspect in the case, some of the students have not been identified. dozens of potential victims have gotten lawyers at this point. but the supervise says the challenge right now is to support our students and win back their trust. brack to school today. >> mike, thank you. a man on parole tries to snatch a 7-year-old girl at a georgia walmart, but he got more than he bargained for and it is all caught on tape. then a new multibillion dollar deal between the states and

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jtsz welcome back, everybody, in just about an hour from now, president obama is expected to speak about the new deal today which could help millions of the nation's homeowners. five of the nation's biggest banks have signed on to a $26 billion deal. >> it will also provide immediate release to homeowners, forcing to banks to reduce principal on loans, refinance loans for under water borrowers and pay billons of dollars to

states that could be used for direct help to consumers struggling today. >> this is really a big deal for a lot of people out there, explain to all of us, for homeowners in this country, how big of a deal is this and what type of immediate help can they expect if they want it. >> this is a historic deal, no question about it. to put it in perspective, it is larger than the tobacco settlement. so when we look at what the borrower ares go to get, you have a $20 million deal. these over those rthose -- sign all those forechose yirs. not necessarily that those foreclosures were wrong in the first place. but they did sign on to a $25 billion settlement deal. principal reduction, for borrowers who are behind on

their payments and in the form of payments to borrowers who have already last their homes to foreclosu foreclosures. it's at least something to a borrower who has lost their home. it will go to state -- that 20 billion to the borrowers themselves, the question is which borrowers are going to gt it and again, that's going to vary state to state, california is going to get the most from this settlement. >> diana, thanks so much. you can read more from diana on her blog at reality check.cnbc.com. >> just call them the young and the jobless. the job market may be improving in general. but the employment rate for the youngest workers are at its lowest levels in -- just 54% of 18 to 24-year-olds comfortable have a job. that's the lowest level since 18948.

nearly half say that have taken a job just to pay the bills. on the other hand, some encouraging news out this morning, the number of people filing for unemployment aid fell to a four-year low last week. for several key swing states t unemployment picture is especially important ezra fine joins us now, as you write in your recent bloomberg column today about the recent swing states and how the unemployment picture is impacting those swing states so which are going to turn out to be more important? >> you can come up with any number of combination. but in general, in the five biggest swing states, you have about a 9% unemployment rate or

you did in december compared to and 8.5% unemployment rate. they were full half mers taj point. you have also seen the housing, for the same reason, you have seen the housing hit the largest in those states, so those 16 battleground states, they have had a 16% drop in home values compared to the larger economies which is just 11%. so when obama runs no those states he'll have an economy that is worst than the national economy. on the other hand if improvement -- >> are those really the bright spots? when we talk about the auto industry bouncing back, housing slowly coming back, the differences that have been made. >> we have seen two months of good job growth, that's not enough to say we're really on a trend yet. we have four months that job

growth was at an average of 203,000. as of yet, it's hard to say where the recovery will come from because we don't have enough information to say this has really begun. mississippi's top court is hearing arguments right now on the convicted killers that were pardoned by former governor haley barbour. will they wind up back behind bars? plus the victim of a brutal beating comes forward after involve of is that attack becomes viral. we're going to speak to brandon white and see what he's doing to fight back.

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pete williams joins us now, pete, that is the big question, w457s if they decide if they were ill local? >> if they decide they were unconstitutional then the people who were already out could not have this taken off their record, and the people who were about to get out might have to go back. but lawyers for the people who were pardoned or for haley barbour, they say no matter what the rules are here, these pardopardo pardons are unreviewable by the supreme court. under the state constitution, the governor can only pardon people who have published for 30 days in a newspaper in the county where the crime was committed the fact that they have applied for a pardon. and the attorney general says when governor barbour issued these pardons, he didn't check the fact that only 22 of the roughly 200 people fully met that. the attorney general says some didn't public anything at all. some didn't publish for the full

30 days. what governor barbour said is that he relied on the attorney general's office to make sure that the rules were followed. he says it's ironic that the -- secondly governor barbour says the state constitution gives the governor the sole power to decide these pardons, he gets to mike the decisions no matter what the rules are and the court can't review the decisions. i shouldn't have to worry about whether i should have to look over my shoulder or is this person going to attack me or is that person going to attack me for just being a gay male. >> some very powerful words by a victim of a savage beating by a gang of thugs that not only attacked brandon white, but videotaped as well. luckilhe survived tat attack and he joins me now from atlanta to talk more about this.

brandon, i appreciate you coming on and joining us today. i know that you have talked about this, you talked about the fact that you felt humiliated about this, you were embarrassed knowing this was online but you seem to have gathered the strength now to fight back. does it feel good to fight back against this and to be out in front of it, talking about what happened to you, and to say to these people, they can't win, they can't have the best of you. >> it feels great to actually have a chance to voice my opinion and how i feel about the situation, it feels real good. >> seeing the images for the first time, i did today, i was absolutely shocked. this is the surveillance video which is actually video we feel more comfortable showing. there was video, as you can see one gentleman beyond the stop sign that they put on a website. you found out this went viral online and you decided to fight back. explain what happened that day, do you know these guys? what did they say to you? or did this just completely come

out of the blue as you were walking down the street? >> i was actually coming out of a store and i was on the phone with my grandma, and all of a sudden someone just hit me from behind on the back of my head and it goes from there. >> what we see on the video, is savage, they actually pick up a tire and throw it on you. the atlanta police department, the mayor has offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the successful prosecution of these men. how does it feel for you personally to know that in a world like today, to just be a gay man that you have to fear looking over your shoulder, to be beaten in your own neighborhood, to be beaten for the whole world to see, to be beaten as if it was something

that people were proud to do. >> it's hard to walk down the street and worry about what's going to happen to you if anything is going to happen to you. i believe no one should have to fear whether or not they're going to be attacked or beaten just because of their sexual orientation or even race for that matter. >> there's one thing that you said in a press conference that you gave the other day, you said the scars run deeper than anyone would know, the physical pain, i can get over that, my thing is who is to say they won't come after me again, who's to stay they won't even try to kill me? >> is this how you take on the chance of speaking out, going on television, trying to finds who these attackers are in do you still fear for your own safety knowing that you could be in danger. >> in my state, it's a big issue for me, it's a big concern, because dealing with the gangs, you know never what that next attempt will be, you never know what their mental process is. you never know how many people you have against you.

>> brandon, have you been surprised at the rallying support that you've gotten since this went viral, of the attention that's been focused on this from the atlanta mayor, the atlanta police department? >> it's nice to know that you have so many people willing to help find these guys that did this is very surprising. you never know how much support you have until it's actually there. >> brandon, we wish you the best, we hope they are caught, we hope they are prosecuted. but we do appreciate you having the confidence to come forward and talk to us today. a young girl is home safe now because of some very quick thinking and some swift kicking. a man out on parole tried to abduct a 7-year-old girl from georgia. thomas woods grabbed this girl from a toy section. the girl freed herself by kicking the suspect.

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dayed -- dazed and confused. that's how politico is describing robert simon this morning. right now, conservatives seem to only want one dance partner at the party and that's former pennsylvania senator rick santorum. perhaps because he speaks their language, especially when it comes to social issues. >> the obama administration, after consulting with religious organizations, decided to shove it down their throat and say to the catholic church, but to all people of faith that you will do what you are told. >> meanwhile key conservative voices say they're just fine

with this becoming a knockdown, dragged out nomination fight. take a listen. >> this is a marathon, it's not a sprint. and it can be -- it can be a bloody marathon. mitt romney given his more moderate pedigree, given the health care plan that he passed in massachusetts, given that in the past he has been pro-choice and pro gay rights, i think i understate the case saying that he has some work to do. >> shaun spicer is the communications director. four years ago mitt romney was the pac -- this time around, he's seen as a moderate, constantly being challenge flood the right on the campaign trail. so can he step it up and silence the growing number of republican critics that he has? >> well, thomas, i think you know the rnc2ñal downtown get ie middle of the primary fight right now. we let the candidates speak for themselves.

but i think what you're seeing at cpac is a record attendance because conservatives like many americans throughout this country are excited about changing direction, putting a republican back in the white house and getting this country back on track. so each of these candidates is going to address cpac and have their opportunity to talk to the negotiation there and present their case for why they should be the nominee and i'll let them do that. >> right now what are conservatives looking at when they talk about the fact that the rnc wants to take back the white house. what is the message that conservatives are watching through this primary vetting service. >> in poll after poll in terms of the exit polls, you see all not just conservatives, but a lot of americans joining this movement who want to change direction in this country, they think this president has failed to live up to the promises that he made in 2008.

especially on the economy, you still have a huge, way too many americans unemployed, you have grass prices through the roof, energy costs through the roof, housing foreclosure is a major problem, so i think what's going on on our side is a lot of people are taking their time to evaluate the candidates and choosing the one candidate that they think will replace barack obama come november. but i think that, you know, there's some sort of consternation about this idea that it's because, yourjs within the first couple weeks of the process, we haven't settled on somebody, i don't see that as some major problem here, i think we are taking this choice very seriously and making sure that we pick the right candidate to defeat obama. >> shaun, let's go ahead and remind everyone how the delegate count is going on. you say it's still very early on in the process. do you think if there are mixed results on supertuesday, that you're going to hear more about the names of jeb bush, mitch

daniels and more about realistically seeing something of a brokered convention this summer? >> i think that is a media fascination to be honest with you. you have a ballot access issue that has been discussed before. i think the field is set, we have four great candidates, and again, i just wanted to spell this myth that there's somehow a problem, what you're alluding to, i think there is great satisfaction with the folks that are running, i think that people are taking their time making their decisions and because you see a little blort, somehow that's a problem, i don't understand what generates this, but i also look at the polling and there is a lot of folks that are united that agree that no matter who the candidate, all of us will be united come november. >> at what point does it -- at what point do you think it's going to rise to the level that people will start to see that coming out, as you say the unification? because right now, there's a lot of talk back and forth on the right t divide. >> right, i mean again, we're

what, four weeks into a process, four states that have chosen delegates out of 40 -- out of 50 states and six territories. you know, i don't know what that time is, but i think you're going to see, you know, a race continue. another group of states on march 13 and then it continues. so i don't know what that day is. we set out a system -- the rnc set out a system a couple of years ago that would involve more states and more voters and it's going as it was planned, frankly. >> rnc communications director shaun spicer, thank you for your time today. here's a look at some of the other news topping the headlines right now.

just one of the attacks from the syrian military, having opposition forces in the homes. a death toll is in the hundreds. just this week syrian president assaad shows no sign of letting up the attacks on his own people. moving on to what else is topping the news. new details on the tragic murder-suicide of josh powell, the man who torched his own home and his two young sons. it was 20 minutes between the time that the social worker called the police and the sheriff arrived. officials say that didn't affect response time. the former survivor producer accused of killing his own wife is in cancun, mexico today.

a dozen armed agents after being extradited from the u.s. his wife's body was found in a sewer system in cancun. washington state is now one step closer to becoming the seventh state in the nation to allow same-sex couples to wed. washington state's house voted 55-37. okay so the birth com issue has put some renewed -- in a documentary called misrepresentation examines misrepresentations of women in today's society. by weaving together interviews of teen girls and notable female leaders. >> it's all about the body, not about the brain. >> as the most powerful country in the world, if we're not

standing for the right values and the right principles, it's a loss to the world. >> let's talk about this, women on capitol hill, they're speaking out against the president's birth control debate. take a listen to this. >> this is not a women's rights issue, this is a religious liberty issue. >> when we hear that, do we think this is really about this personal liberty issue or bigger women's issue across the board? >> i think this is a larger women's issue. i cringe when i hear what's happening in our country right now with respect to women's rights, with respect to human rights. i'm thrilled that komen foundation retreated and listened to the social media situation and all the complaints around taking money away from planned parenthood. i think that was a statement of what america wants.

because we have politicized this issue and it's very dangerous. at the end of the day, men aren't being punished the same way women are when a child is born, when a woman doesn't have access to birth control. and we really need to look at that. >> jen, when we look at what's taking place in the conversation of the country right now, there was a komen story, which is completely outside of what's taking place in washington, d.c., although people have claimed that komen just became too political. and we have that issue of the catholic church. that would allow four people to have the option if they work for a catholic affiliated institution to choose a health care program that could cover their contraceptive needs. >> yes. >> does it seem odd that this deep divide exists during this time on those issues? >> think about the fact that we

all come from women and think about the fact that we used to worship female goddesses thaends the major religions came into effect and women were pushed down and all of a aud we were worshipping male god decembers. we have tremendous equality which is the elephant in the room and finally enough women are speaking out about it and men are speaking about it. that is why our documentary, which is a nonpartisan documentary, why it's having such success around the country, fathers of daughters understand that they want their daughters to grow up in a world where they can fulfill their potential and where they're seen as equal. >> when we talk about women's issues, and as a woman who was a role model for other women in this country, for young ladies coming up, as the executive producer of the film misrepresentation. do you think that men interject themselves in conversation where is they just don't belong?

i get nervous talking about these issues and when we have male dominated panels on our air talking about female reproductive rights is really is telling about why this conversation is happening and who really is trying to lay down is law here. >> i appreciate that and i appreciate that you're aware of what -- how hypocritical it is in a sense. you know, unless men and women recognize that there's overpopulation, that children are being brought into this world that shouldn't be brought into this world because the single mothers can't take care of them, but the economy has hit single mothers the moechlts and people are realizing that it's really not right to judge what other people are doing with their bodies, we're going to be stuck in this place and we're going to continued to strip away women's rights. but things are changing, because we women are galvanizing with

men, men like yourself hopefully, who recognize that at the end of the day all this is holding women down. >> at the end of the day, we're all in this world together, so we got to figure out out somehow the documentary is "misrepresentation." >> motivated by hate, ellen degeneres says she usually doesn't pay attention to that iter, but this time she is taking on 10 million moms. and skipping a grade? is that following the no child left behind laws? i did not want to think about that. relax, relax, relax. look at me, look at me. three words, dad -- e-trade financial consultants. so i can just go talk to 'em? just walk right in and talk to 'em. dude, those guys are pros. they'll hook you up with a solid plan. they'll -- wa-- wa-- wait a minute. bobby? bobby! what are you doing, man? i'm speed dating! [ male announcer ] get investing advice

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hostelhoste ellen degeneres -- the anti-gay message is firing up supporters especially on facebook. ellen says all the hate is great fuel. >> normally i try not to pay attention to my haters, but this time i would like to talk about it because my haters are my motivate fors. >> corrie johnson is the deputy director for the gay and lesbian alliance for defamation. ellen degeneres has talked about the hate that's been directed towards her, but for the millions of lgbt americans who don't have an outlet like ellen has, what does this send to the greater picture of what's going on in this picture. >> ellen draws millions upon millions of viewers every week, because people like ellen and they don't care whether or not she's gay.

in over 40 states you can still be fired for being gay, in 29 states you can still be fired for being transgendered. this sendsmessage. america is moving away from this. we are seeing tremendous progress. marriage in washington this week. proposition 8 unconstitutional. the mark of equality is moving ahead. >> the one million moms issued a statement concerning jcpenney saying jumping on the pro-gay bandwagon, they are attempting to gain a new target market and will lose customers faithful to them over all these years. here is what ellen said in response to that. >> if you don't know me very well, if you're just watching maybe for the first time or you're just getting to know me, i want to be clear. here are the values i stand for. i stand for honesty, equality, kindness, compassion, treating people the way you want to be treated and helping those in need. to me those are traditional values. that's what i stand for.

>> with a message like that, it's hard to fight back saying she doesn't deserve a place to be a spokesperson for a company with american values in this country. >> ellen came out in 1997. this is old news. she's been out 14 years. the crazy thing is, the american family association, the group that launched this is neither american nor family-oriented nor an association. they are an extremist anti-hate gay group. people can go to to g.l.a.d. stand up forrellen. >> 11 glaad employees were let go last month. how is the organization doing? >> glaad is on firm footing. glaad is doing tremendous work throughout the country. what we see on a daily basis is the fight in middle america for equality. as i said before, we are seeing bipartisan victories from

washington to new york on equality. i think it shows that the march is inexrable, we are moving ahead. >> thank you for being with us today. the president sends a message to congress about the school children. what he is doing to help students now. my heart attack happened .leyoun .. you just don't think that that's something that can happen to you.

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developing right now on msnbc, a full day at the white house. we are expecting to hear from the president in roughly 20 minutes. he's going to be commenting on the $25 billion mortgage settlement that was reached. talking about that this morning. then, we'll hear from the president again in two hours

announcing new reforms for the no student left behind act. ten states exempt from the law. it's a big deal for schools across this country. stay right here on msnbc for coverage of that. thank you for your time today. i'll see you back here tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. eastern time. you can follow me on twitter @thomas a. roberts. allies wagner comes your way next. yoo-hoo. hello. it's water from the drinking fountain at the mall.

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customers didn't like it. so why do banks do it ? hello ? hello ?! if your bank doesn't let you talk to a real person 24/7, you need an ally. hello ? ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. step one, admit you have a problem. step two, put together a $26 billion relief package. has the great american healing process begun? it's thursday, february 9th and this is "now." joining me today msnbc political analyst the always impeccable richard wolf, mike barnacle and robert trainup. we are